1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to this Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: a show that talies the games and losses of everyday history. 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Bluesier, and today we're looking at the origin 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: of the cash register, a now familiar device meant to 6 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: safeguard a stores cash supply, not against armed robbers or 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: shifty customers, but from dishonest employees. The day was November fourth, 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine. The Ritty Brothers of Dayton, Ohio received 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: the patent for the first mechanical cash register. The idea 10 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,160 Speaker 1: for the device and its initial design were the work 11 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: of James Riddy, a saloon keeper who needed a way 12 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: to stop shady bartenders from stealing his profits. His brother, 13 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: John Riddy helped refine the register's design and then built 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: the working prototype. The Riddy's never made much money off 15 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,839 Speaker 1: what they called the Incorruptible cashier, but their invention, further 16 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: refined eventually changed the world of retail, making transactions faster 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: and safer for employees and customers alike. Not much is 18 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: widely known about the Riddy brothers prior to their breakthrough invention. 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: We know John Riddy was born in Dayton, Ohio in 20 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty four, and that his brother James, was born 21 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: there two years later. We also know that James briefly 22 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: studied medicine, but set aside his education to serve in 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: the Union Army during the Civil War. When the fighting 24 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: was over, James returned to Dayton and opened his first bar. 25 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: He took a classy approach to the profession, promoting himself 26 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: as a quote dealer in pure whiskey's, fine wines and cigars. Unfortunately, 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: some of his employees were less cultured than the spirits 28 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: they were serving up. James noticed that the finances of 29 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: his saloon never quite squared. The amount of business they 30 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: were doing just didn't match the meager profits they were 31 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: taking in. That's when James realized some of his employees 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: had been stealing from the till. But sadly, there wasn't 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: much he could do about it. He couldn't watch their 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: every move, so keeping track of all the sales made 35 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: and all the money brought in was next to impossible, 36 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: a fact that his bartenders exploited to no end. Rampant 37 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: employee theft was actually a common problem at the time. Historically, 38 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: most American businesses have been quite small and it never 39 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: needed much of a workforce. Many were family owned operations, 40 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: so if an owner needed extra help, they just bring 41 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: in their relatives. After the Civil War, though, many American 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: cities grew rapidly, and business owners had to start hiring 43 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: outside employees to help meet the increased demand. Without a 44 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: vested family interest in the business, many of these new 45 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: clerks and bartenders had no problem pocketing part of the 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: money they handled, and, as James Riddy learned all too well, 47 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: business owners had no real way to stop them. The 48 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: stress from that revelation gnawed at James Riddy so much 49 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: so that in eighteen seventy eight, his wife convinced him 50 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: to take a vacation for the good of his health. 51 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: The couple booked a steamboat trip to Europe, and it 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: was during their Atlantic crossing that inspiration struck. On a 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: tour of the engine room, James saw a machine that 54 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: counted the rotations of the ship's propeller. He immediately began 55 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: to wonder if a similar mechanism could be used to 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: track the number of sales made at his saloon. Once 57 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: he returned to the US, James got in touch with 58 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: his brother John, a skilled mechanic, and they set to 59 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: work designing the machine of james dreams. The first two 60 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: prototypes were less than inspiring, but their third design proved 61 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: a winner. It didn't look much like cash registers as 62 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: we know them now, but the device did perform a 63 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: similar function by recording the number of sales and the 64 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: dollar amount of each one. The was achieved through a 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: row of keys on the front of the machine that 66 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: allowed the operator to input amounts from five cents to 67 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: cents counting by fives, and from one dollar to nine dollars. 68 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: Once the amount of money had been entered, the machines 69 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: large clock like face would display the current cash tally 70 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: for all to see, and a mechanism inside the machine 71 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: would record the total sales. The machine was far better 72 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: than nothing, but it still had some major drawbacks. For 73 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: one thing, the Riddis cash register didn't record information automatically 74 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: like the device James encountered on the steamboat. Instead, the 75 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: person taking the money had to manually input each sale. 76 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: If they failed to record a transaction, either accidentally or 77 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: on purpose, then the whole count would be off and 78 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: money could just as easily go missing as before. That 79 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: flaw was exacerbated by the register's lack of a cash drawer. 80 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: Instead of inserting money directly into the device, clerk still 81 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: had to place the in a separate till, the same 82 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: one that had been so easy to steal from in 83 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: the first place. Despite these disadvantages, the Riddy's inventions still 84 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: had clear merit. They filed for a patent in eighteen 85 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: seventy nine and received it later that year on November four. 86 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: Four years later, the brothers started the National Manufacturing Company 87 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: to build and market the first commercial model. Marketed as 88 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: Riddy's Incorruptible Cashier, the device featured a few improvements over 89 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: the patents design. These included a roll of paper tape 90 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: to record sales, pop up numbers to indicate amounts of money, 91 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: and a bell to provide the now familiar sound we 92 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: associate with making a sale. Employees were almost universally against 93 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: the idea of cash registers. Unscrupulous clerks didn't like leaving 94 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: a paper trail that could potentially get them caught, and 95 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: honest clerks didn't appreciate the implication that they were all 96 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: would be thieves. Unfortunately for the Riddy brothers, most business 97 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: owners weren't keen on cash registers either. They preferred being 98 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: nickel and dimed by their employees rather than paying up 99 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: front for a costly machine. After a couple of years 100 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: of dismal sales, the Riddis decided to cut their losses 101 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: and return to the bar business full time. In eighteen 102 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: eighty four, they sold their patent rights and their company 103 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 1: to a group of Ohio investors led by John H. Patterson. 104 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: It turned out to be an incredibly wise investment. That 105 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 1: same year, Patterson founded the National Cash Register Company, which 106 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: eventually became the world's leading manufacturer of the device. The 107 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: company's still around the day and is now known as 108 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: NCR Corporation. These days, it specializes in software and technological services, 109 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: but it still manufactures cash registers as well, or at 110 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,799 Speaker 1: least the modern equivalent, self service kiosks, point of sale terminals, 111 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: and the like. It's hard not to feel like they're 112 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: riddies miss their chance to cash in on a revolutionary idea. 113 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: Maybe it never would have worked out for them anyway, 114 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: and they were right to get out when they did, 115 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: Or maybe they gave up on their invention too quickly. 116 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: In either case, their work left an indelible mark on commerce, 117 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: whether most people know it or not. I'm gay, Bluesier 118 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 119 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 120 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 121 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show. You can also rate 122 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can 123 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: send your feedback directly to me by writing to this 124 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: Day at I heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler 125 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 126 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again soon for another day 127 00:07:51,840 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: in history class.